Williamsburg, KY – Cumberlands battled with Georgetown through nine innings, but found themselves on the losing end to drop game one of a best of three series. The Tigers won 2-1, forcing UC to take the next two contests in order to advance in the Mid-South Conference Tournament.
The Patriots tallied seven hits in the game all from seven different hitters. The lone run for UC was scored by
Emily Bryant and the only extra base hit for the Patriots came from
Meryn Livingston with a double.
Kaiti White and
Talli Burgess combined in the circle, giving up eight hits, a run each and combining for five strikeouts.
Georgetown got on the board with their first hitter of the game off a leadoff home run to left field. Cumberlands would not find their equalizer until the fourth frame and left a runner on base in each inning leading up to it.
Bryant led off the fourth with a single to right field and
Katie Cheeseman advanced her to second with the sacrifice bunt. During an at-bat the Tigers tried to pick off Bryant on second, but she took off for third. The throw got passed the centerfielder allowing Bryant to come around to score, to make it 1-1.
Morgan Radford and
Tori Malone each got hits in the inning, but they did not reach home plate, leaving two on base for UC.
White got her second strikeout in the fifth to end the frame and she did not surrender another hit until the seventh inning. After the hit, Burgess entered the circle, leaving a runner stranded at third after back-to-back groundouts.
Livingston led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and
Taylor Green came on as the pinch runner. She got to third with two outs, but a groundout left her 60-feet away from a UC victory.
Neither team got a runner aboard in the eighth, but in the ninth the Tigers plated the eventual game winner. Their leadoff batter got aboard from a bunt single, she advanced to second off a bunt, and then scored from a single to right center. Burgess struckout the final batter in the seventh inning limiting the damage to one run, but UC went down in order in the ninth, for the 2-1 Georgetown win,
Both teams are fighting for a spot at the MSC Final Site in Bowling Green, KY. The win for the Tigers means they are one win away from advancing, meanwhile the Patriots have to win back-to-back games to keep their chances alive.
Game two between the teams is slated for a 1PM start on Friday, April 29 with the, if necessary game to follow immediately after.
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